Why late earliest occupation of Western Europe ?

Project Information

LATEUROPE

Grant agreement ID: 101052653

DOI

10.3030/101052653

EC signature date 27 September 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2027

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 558 250,00

EU contribution

€ 2 558 250,00

Coordinated by

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LATEUROPE (Why late earliest occupation of Western Europe ?)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project aims to question human migrations and peopling: why the earliest hominins did occupy Western Europe later than other portions of Eurasia?
Early Hominins, conquered Eurasia, long before Modern Humans, the single Homo species living now on the earth. They conquered Eurasia along a rapid “Out of Africa” movement but left Europe empty during almost 1 million years. Western Europe did indeed face environmental constraints. This subcontinent is in a remote corner of Eurasia but other large Eurasian peninsulas are dead-ends as well. Certainly, Western Europe mixture of various environments and topographies did change a lot over time and the succession of climates, then causing favorable territories for human occupations to fluctuate. However, archaeology in Asia and the Levant shows that hominins did overcome variable climatic conditions and geographies.
Investigating why Western Europe have remained out of the “Oekoumen” for so long is our research proposal LATEUROPE, that we base over datasets of interdisciplinary and behavioral materials enriched by future fieldworks in several specific sites and biomes on the key period before 500 ka.
The objectives question at the local, regional and continental scale, the environmental, geographic and climatic conditions of Europe as compared to the rest of Eurasia and the characteristics of the hominin occupations and behaviours, or/and if a minimum degree of cognition was required to thrive in these lands. Databases input multiple scenarios combining migration patterns and internal evolution mechanisms, using conceptual modelling and spatial agent-based simulations. This formalized combination of modelling and field methodologies will allow us to deeply question the ability of Homo species to adapt themselves to harsh environments, to face environmental shocks and changes on a long-term scale.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A large database has been made on more than 70 European and African sites/levels. Preliminary data on hominin behaviors start to be published, associated to pilot studies on abilities of Homo antecessor and heidelbergensis. The cladistic analyse is ongoing on the lithic series for investigating the diversity of early traditions and technological features over Europe and climate. A workshop is planned in 2025 at the Musée de l’Homme (Paris) with invited researchers from China, India, the Levant and Western Europe, to compare Eurasian behaviours.
For enriching current data on chronology and hominin behaviors, fieldworks were performed in North of France (Somme Valley) and South of Europe (Notarchirico, Italy). Drilling on stalagmitic floors was also performed, such as at Caune de l’Arago (France), for U-Pb dating.
The analyse of faunal material of some key-sites has permitted to work on hominin strategies associated to a special focus for biostratigraphy on Hippopotamus and Elephants. We have also identified the earliest remain of Lion in Europe (> 600 ka). The pilot analyses of stone tools for use-wear analyses show plant, wood working and butchery. The geological studies and origin of the raw materials for the territory reconstruction are also applied on some sites, showing how hominins managed and selected local stones.
In order to enrich climatic data, the work has been focussed on the ODP 976 core that covers the Middle and part of the Early Pleistocene (1.24 – 0.563 Ma). For the oldest sediments, new data (foraminifer counts, δ18 O isotope record and clay minerals) have been carried out to refine the age model and obtain complementary information about wind circulation in the Alboran Sea. Sites with well-preserved fauna are prioritized for isotope analysis in Spain and Italy, dated between 1 Ma and 500 ka. We decided to focus on the phosphate component of enamel, since carbonate tends to be more prone to diagenetic changes.
The major challenges and task of the project are for the agent-based models as a context for simulation experiments. The first two years of the project have been devoted to data collection of 182 sites in Eurasia, conceptual grounding and the design of the architecture of the central model through: (1) Spatiotemporal evolution of the dispersal with reconstruction of Western Europe’s ecosystems between 1.4 and 0.5 Ma, (2) Hominid subsistence and survival around a local/small-scale agent-based model and (3) Emergence of behavioural plasticity.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Among some breakthroughs, we have evidence that at more than 1 Ma, hominins were able to occupy areas beyond the 45th N parallel during favourable cimatic condition.
The discovery of the earliest remain of a Lion in Italy, dated to more than 600 ka, helps investigating the climatic changes at this period of time modifying vegetation and mammals and the degree of impact on hominins.
However, the results beyond the state of art are mainly so far related to major challenges that we have to overpass for the success of the project, asking methodological developments and issues.
The cladistic analyse on stone tools is the first challenge, because rarely applied on. We have so far recorded data and coded more than 70 sites/levels, with around 10 000 artefacts. Through this non classical methodology, we aim to investigate hominin strategies over time in Western Europe and climatic conditions.
The challenges also concern the reconstruction of the landscape and ecology of the hominin occupations by isotopic approaches for site-specific (seasonal) paleoclimatic and ecological conditions, as well as for on-site migration studies using a variety of elements, e.g. carbon, oxygen and/or strontium. The analysis of the oxygen isotopic composition of animal tooth enamel includes phosphate and, if well preserved, carbonate-bearing components. Working on early assemblages is a challenge by the degree of preservation of teeth and for that, we have decided to focus on phosphates and added a pilot study on zinc isotopes.
Finally, the agent-based models as a context for simulation experiments is the risky part of the project. The architecture of the Central model needs to start with a prove of concept with examples of populations that do not change or adapt to climatic oscillations at different scales, and then comparing to a scenario in which hominins are able to change and adapt their behaviour. The prove of concept will allow us to start building the architecture of the central model at larger scale, the Eurasia.

Artefacts of the Italian site of Notarchirico dated to 700 ka.

Logo of the ERC project

Drilling at Grâce alluvial formation (Somme Valley, France) dated to 900 ka

Artefacts of the French site of Lunery-Terre des Sabons dated to 1.1 Ma

Notarchirico (Italy). Elephant area dated to 610 ka.

Drilling at Caune de l'Arago. Satalagmitic cores for dating by U/Ld